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DVD: Chasing Amy (1997). 113 min. Written and directed by Kevin Smith. w/ Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams. Third installment in the 'New Jersey Trilogy'. Comic book artist falls in love with lesbian and thereby jeopardizes the relationship with his best male friend. Dialog-heavy, some strong language, funny moments. Some mediocre acting. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Technology: Fab Lab: abbreviation for Fabrication Laboratory, a group of off-the-shelf, industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools, such as a laser cutter and milling machine to carve out two- and three-dimensional parts, a sign cutter for creating graphics or plotting flexible electronic circuits, and electronic assembly tools. Overall price tag ~$25,000. Gives users the ability to locally conceptualize, design, develop, fabricate and test almost anything. Allows design and fabrication at micron length and microsecond time scales. Fab Labs have been installed in various locations around the world by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), guided by the MIT physicist and computer scientist Neil Gershenfeld from the Center for Bits and Atoms. Also see Yahoo News article 'Fab Labs Unshackle Imaginations', Nov. 6, 2005, and a lecture in 'The Digital Future'(video stream) available, a series from the Library of Congress, on March 28, 2005. Neil Gershenfeld has also published an article in Scientific American (draft here) on Internet Zero ("Internet 0" or "I0"). Internet Zero presents an architecture for "interdevice internetworking." This system promises to fully network our computers with our environments using a unified protocol based on Internet Protocol (IP).
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DVD: The Bourne Identity (2002). 119 min. Directed by Doug Liman. Novel by Robert Ludlum. w/ Matt Damon, Franka Potente. Jason Bourne (Damon) lost his memory and is trying to find out who he is with the help of a woman (Potente) he meets. Both are chased by the CIA, slowly uncoverying Bourne's former life. Good acting. Good cinematography. Good car chase sequence in a 'Mini'. Ending too shallow. DVD also provides alternate beginning & ending, but it's not much better. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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Computer: How To Build A PC - A Computer Building Guide by Rob Williams. Also has tips about hard drive upgrades.
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Video: Cold Mountain (2003). 154 min. w/ Jude Law (Inman), Nicole Kidman (Ada Monroe), Renee Zellweger (Ruby Thewes). Directed and screenplay by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient). After the book by Charles Frazier. During the American Civil War, the deserted Confederate soldier Inman is on his way to Cold Mountain, NC, where Ada is awaiting him while she is learning from the boyish Ruby how to run a farm. Love story in historic setting. Zellweger received an Oscar for Best Supportuing Actress. Entertaining. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Life: Chautauqua: 1.) geographical name: Lake Chautauqua, 18 miles long in SW New York. 2.) Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY; founded on the belief that everyone 'has a right to be all that he can be -- to know all that he can know.' Flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries providing popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays often presented outdoors or in a tent. A Pat Metheny album from 1979 is entitled 'New Chautauqua'.
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Music: Wilco: Rock-Pop-Country band around Jeff Tweedy (from Uncle Tupelo), founded in 1994/95. Wilco in Concert on NPR.
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Music: Orenda Fink. Pop. Sg: Bloodline. Debut solo album: Invisible Ones. Also member of the duo Azure Ray.
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DVD: Chaos (2001). Directed by Coline Serreau. w/ Vincent Lindon, Catherine Frot, Rachida Brakni. French w/ English subtitles. A married middle class couple encounter prostitute who is being chased and beaten. While the husband cares little, the wife nurses her and gets to know her terrifying story. Revenge lurks. A good story to tell. Too long in some parts. A good look at native French vs. immigrants. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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DVD: Clarissa (1991). 2 DVDs with 97 and 104 min. 4 parts. BBC/TV. Novel by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). Directed by Robert Bierman. w/ Sean Bean (Robert Lovelace), Saskia Wickham (Clarissa Harlowe). Virtuous girl refuses to marry the man her family has sought out for her, gets 'rescued' by a playboy who tries all tricks to get her into bed. Only her death is her revenge. The story starts somewhat cheerful but only goes downhill from there. Clarissa's naivity gets annoying after a while. Film is much too long, melodramatic, depressing. Dwells too long on Lovelace's advances, becomes monotonous. Great costumes though, and some fine acting. Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
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Art: Reg(inald) Butler (1913-1981). British sculptor. Welding in Iron, later modelling in clay or plaster and casting the models in a thin light weight bronze. Biographical info. Some works at the Tate Collection, London.
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Science: James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). Made large contributions to astronomy and physics. Major works on electricity, magnetism, and light. Showed that Saturn rings are composed of small particles. Kinetic theroy of gases. Maxwell-Boltzman distribution: bell-shaped curve that describes the speed of molecules in a gas. Maxwell's demon: an 1867 thought experiment that challenges the second law of thermodynamics.
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Video: High Anxiety (1977). 94 min. w/ Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman. Psycho-Comedy. Nobel prize winning psychiatry professor, who is afraid of heights, takes new job in a mental institution where he also needs to fear for his life. Lots of references to Alfred Hitchcock movies. Overall rating: 4 out of 10.
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Theater: CASH - oder ewig rauschen die Gelder. Kleine Komödie am Max II, Munich, on 10/6/05. Comedy by Michael Cooney. Directed by Sebastian Goder. Landlord and con artist, who lost his job, deceives social security agents to make a living. Turbulent farce.
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Technology: Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN), Brooklyn, NY. Advocats the safe use of molecular nanotechnology (MNT).
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Music: Alan Ferber Nonet at Smalls, 183W 10th St at 7th Ave, NYC on 10/26/05. Variety of sounds and rhythms. Ferber lives in New York, writes most of his tunes. Crowded stage.
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DVD: Clerks (1994). Directed by Kevin Smith. w/ Brian O'Halloran (Dante Hicks), Jeff Anderson (Randal Graves), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Veronica Loughran), Lisa Spoonhauer (Caitlin Bree). Also Jason Mewes as Jay, and Kevin Smith himself as Silent Bob. A day in the lives of two convenience clerks. Anything can happen. Low budget movie ($25,000). Dialog heavy. Funny moments. Some good ideas. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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Music: Sigur Ros. Icelandic band, founded in 1994. Most recent album 'Takk', released September 13, 2005. Downloads. Sounds a bit like a mixture of Pink Floyd, Enya, Barclay James Harvest, und Sibelius. Mostly ambient. A live concert from the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD, is posted on NPR.
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Humor: from The Metro Cartoon: It's All About You, by Tony Murphy: Woman 1 to Woman 2: "And the I ... Uh ... Shoot! I totally forgot what I was going to say!" Woman 2: "If your thought leaves you, set it free. If it loves you, it will return. If it stays away, it was never yours to begin with."
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Shopping: Naughty Codes: Coupon codes for Internet Shopping
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Life: Free Annual Credit Report endorsed by the U.S. Federal Government, starting September 1, 2005.
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Sports: Basketball: Madison Square Garden, 11/6/05: New York Knicks vs. Golden State Warriors: 81 - 83
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Music: The All New Adventures Of Us (TANAOU). Indie/Alternative from Great Britain. Some more info at Bravestar Records.
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Video: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). 126 min. w/ Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt. Directed by John Huston. Three guys digging in the mountains for gold experience the burden of wealth. Great acting, but story easy to foresee. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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DVD: Helen of Troy (1955). 118 min. w/ Rossana Podesta (Helen), Jacques Sernas (Paris). Directed by Robert Wise. Classic story of Helen and Paris from Homer's Iliad. Schmaltzy. Overal rating: 4 out of 10.
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DVD: The Station Agent (2003). 88 min. w/ Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson. Quiet, slightly depressed dwarf inherits a train depot in central NJ and slowly (very slowly) makes some friends. Funny and thougtful moments interchange, showing that everyone has his own baggage to carry in life. Commentary on the DVD is disappointing. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
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DVD: The Last Picture Show (1971). 118 min. w/ Timothy Bottoms (Sonny Crawford), Jeff Bridges (Duane Jackson), Cybill Shepherd (Jacy Farrow), Ben Johnson (Sam the Lion, Academy Award 1972), Cloris Leachman (Ruth Popper, Academy Award 1972, [also in High Anxierty]). Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. After the novel by Larry McMurtry. Life in a small, boring town in Texas in 1952, where the only attraction is a movie theater. When Sam the Lion dies unexpectedly, things go downhill. Remarkably liberal for its time. Goss commentary/interviews on DVD.Overall ranting 7 out of 10.
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